Author: cholan

The Illinois Military Museum, located on Camp Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, houses the state’s Military history, focusing primarily on the long Illinois Militia and National Guard history, but also covering military service by Illinois residents across multiple conflicts, from Indian Wars to Afghanistan and Iraq. While its most famous relic is not on display, Santa Ana’s wooden leg, the museum is a place worth visiting for an enjoyable afternoon.

Your visit to the Museum starts with outdoor displays of various military equipment, most notably an AH-1S Cobra and UH-1H Huey Helicopters, as well as some tanks and other equipment. Part of the Museum’s outdoor static display is located at the entrance to Camp Lincoln and are inaccessible up close to the general public.

The museum itself is housed in the oldest building on Camp Lincoln, the 1903 Commissary building, built in the Romanesque style of architecture and reminiscent of a castle. The first floor has a small admissions/gift shop area, a flex space for events, restrooms and access to the vault (not open to the public), as well as a few small displays. The main viewing gallery, however, is located on the second floor, accessible by stairs or elevator.

Laid out in a directed path and generally chronologically, though you must past through some of the more recent actions (Iraq and Afghanistan) to reach the oldest history from the Mexican American War and establishment of Illinois Militia Regiments (predating the Illinois National Guard). Swords, sabers, rank, medals, hats and uniforms from this period are on display inside cases. Exhibit signs, although typewritten on simple parchment paper, are informative and discuss the Militia’s transformation to the Illinois National Guard, starting with the Milita Act in 1903 that provided federal funding for equipment and training and began the process of standardization for the fully integrated National Guard of today.

From here, the Museum pivots to an in-depth look at the civil war and includes multiple artifacts from both sides of the conflict. On display are just a couple of the extensive flag collection the museum maintains from this and other eras. These flag displays are rotated to help preserve the fragile material.

From here, the museum covers conflicts from the Mexican-American War, World War I (including an interesting audio preservation from inside a WWI Bunker), WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. In this portion of the museum, the exhibits include highly developed dioramas with professional labeling, high-lighting units and individual accomplishments.

World War I Trench Diorama

This flows into the more modern era, including not only Desert Storm, but also Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. This section also details the National Guard’s support to domestic operations, unique among the armed services, such as during the Great Flood of 1993, Covid and other domestic operations.

As mentioned, the museum’s most famous exhibit, Santa Anna’s wooden leg, taken by 4^th Regiment Illinois Volunteers Militia members during the route of the Mexican Army in the Mexican-American War during the battle of Cerro Gordo in 1847, is not on display and has not been for some time. According to museum volunteers, the leg had been on continuous display for decades and it is in severe need of conservation.

Though federally and state supported, the museum still lacks the resources to complete this conservation so the leg sits in climate-controlled storage (along with approximately 80 percent of the museum’s collection), awaiting the day it can be restored and put back on display. In the meanwhile, there is no indication that this relic of history exists in the museum. A short presentation, picture and description along with an “this exhibit is undergoing restoration” would help to keep this story alive and help console visitors disappointed with not being able to see this unique part of Illinois military history. Still, there is plenty to see in the rest of the museum, which is well worth the trip.

The address listed is 1301 N. MacArthur Boulevard, which is actually Camp Lincoln, headquarters for the Illinois National Guard, but access to the museum is not through Camp Lincoln’s main gate. Instead, continue north on MacArthur past the main gate approximately 1,000 feet to get to the Museum’s own entrance. The museum is open Tuesday-Friday 1-4:30 pm and Saturday 9-12 and 1-4:30. Admission is free; however they do accept donations.

The museum also participates in the Explorer Passport as one of 12 Abe’s (Abraham Lincoln) Hat Hunt Sticker Stops throughout the Springfield area. For more information on the  Illinois State Military Museum visit their website at https://militaryaffairs.illinois.gov/ilmilitarymuseum.html. You can also see more about Abe’s Hat Hunt on the Visit Springfield Illinois website at https://www.visitspringfieldillinois.com/Landing/AbesHatHunt.aspx.

The Work of Art: The Federal Art Project, 1935-1943 at the Saint Louis Art Museum, is an Exhibition on display through April 13, 2025 of various works of art created by African American, Asian American and Female artists under the Federal Art Project. Created as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the program put thousands of artists to work creating art for public buildings during the depression.

Pulled from the museum’s permanent collection of Works Progress Administration (WPA) holdings, 58 works of art are displayed in two galleries, Gallery 235 and the Sidney S. and Sadie M. Cohen Gallery 234. For just 58 individual works, the exhibition manages to capture not only the spirit of the Federal Art Project, but also the mechanics and just how wide the net was cast to include all and everyone who had something to contribute. In doing so, stories and works from marginalized populations had been preserved and made available to tell one aspect of the New Deal era, the WPA and the Federal Art Project.

Organized geographically, the exhibition highlights both the breadth of the program across the country, and the diversity of project artists, by ethnicity, sex, age and even artistic ability. Even the mediums used varied from paint to charcoal, linocut, crayon lithograph, water color and wood carving. The exhibition was curated to “celebrate the fundamental idea of art being made by and for everyone”. Perhaps no display in the exhibit exudes this more than the Children’s Art Display of 15 works completed by young Black students at the LeMoyne Federal Art Center in Memphis, from 1938 to 1941. The works are located in Gallery 235 along the wall furthest from the Main Hall. Stacked in columns of three, the bright colors and varied themes pull you into the collection.

Much of the work reflect the art and style of the WPA, in terms of the heroic nature of the human spirit, our industrious nature and the progress of man. Reminiscent of Soviet Era works meant to inspire and uplift, works on display such as Raymond Steth’s Beacon of Defense, 1941showcase America’s industrial might transferred to its military strength.

The art is presented by City, and works from Memphis, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Washington D.C., New Orleans, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, New York City and the west coast cities of San Francisco and Seattle are included. Saint Louis gets a special treatment, with an homage to the People’s Art Center including, in addition to art, photographs and programs from the Center.

For the most part, the galleries are devoid of furniture except for two benches in 234 and a two-sided kiosk in each space, each highlighting an aspect of the Federal Art Program and a special piece of art on each side, such as Selma Day’s Mural Study, 1936 or 1937, an oil on panel presentation of the nursey rhyme, “Little Boy Blue”.

Taking advantage of Friday’s free entrance to all exhibitions, I visited on January 31st, 2025, to a bustling but not overcrowded museum. Free parking is available and if the lots are filled, additional free parking is located on the streets surrounding the museum. The exhibition galleries are located to the rear right of the Main Hall as you enter the Museum. Each gallery space is enclosed and the works presented along the four walls of each gallery, with a center kiosk in each room highlighting both the exhibit and the Federal Art Project. There is a companion website (https://www.slam.org/exhibitions/the-work-of-art-the-federal-art-project-1935-1943/) which includes a description of the program, transcripts of the audio guide available in both galleries, as well as biographies of the co-curators and more in-depth descriptions of the various works. The website, however, does not adequately represent the full breadth of the works presented in the galleries. I was impressed with the pieces on display, and admittedly, did not have a good understanding of what was being presented going into the exhibit, but left with a desire to learn more about this aspect of the Federal Art Project.

The exhibit was curated by Clare Kobasa, associate curator of prints, drawings and photographs, and Amy Torbert, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Associate Curator of American Art. It runs through April 13, 2025. After touring their well-curated exhibit, you may feel like me and want to explore additional Federal Art Project works. I encourage you to do so.